Tuesday, 02 February 2021 14:30

The 10 Highest-Grossing Video Games Of The Decade (And How Much They Made)

Written by Jesse Benoit
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The video game industry is far from dead as some of the highest-grossing video games break records. Here are the best sales of the last decade.

This past decade has given players on each console an overwhelming amount of titles to dive into and partner up to take on enemies of all kinds. From 2011 to 2020, this past decade was arguably the best and most successful since the '90s; a time which overflowed with Super Mario and Pokemon running across television screens.

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From Grand Theft Auto V becoming the fastest-selling entertainment product in history to PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds having over 3 million active players during the birth of the battle royale phenomena, the decade included some of the largest titles in gaming history.

10 Red Dead Redemption 2

Rockstar's one of two entries on this list, Red Dead Redemption 2 released on October 26th, 2018. The long-awaited sequel to the 2010 open-world western hit, Red Dead Redemption, the sequel follows outlaw Arthur Morgan as he, the protagonist from the first Red Dead Redemption John Marston, and the rest of their gang as they make their way through 1899 and the decline of the Wild West.

Upon releasing on PlayStation 4, Xbox One in 2018 followed by launches on Stadia and PC the next year, GameSpot's 2018 Game of the Year made over $700 million in revenue within the first three days of launching. Behind Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto V, It has since shipped over 30 million copies and debuted as one of the top-selling video games of the past decade.

9 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

On 11/11/11, one of the most anticipated launches of this generation released which was the fifth entry in the Elder Scrolls series. 2011's Game of the Year, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim released with expectant Dragonborn across the globe lining up in front of stores for days in advance. The highly anticipated title was the latest open-world adventure crafted by Todd Howard and Bethesda.

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Having a series of re-releases and just as many patches as Cyberpunk 2077 and its game-breaking bugs, Skyrim originally released on PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation. It has since become playable on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and the Nintendo Switch, and yes, even Amazon Alexa.

8 Diablo 3

In 2012, Blizzard Entertainment launched Diablo III 12 years after the second installment released on PC with console players getting a chance to enter the dark world for the first time in the series.

With such a massive gap between titles, anticipation was massive, and it showed with the third entry released on May 15th. With over 30 million copies sold worldwide, Diablo III became one of the most pre-ordered PC games on Amazon and has since outsold titles including Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 & 3, Grand Theft Auto IV, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

7 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare

The Modern Warfare reboot released on October 25th, 2019, and earned over $600 million in sales within its first three days making it the best digital opening in Activision's history. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare has since gone on to earn over $1 billion in revenue with over 30,000,000 copies sold making it one of the most successful Call of Duty titles in history.

6 Mario Kart 8

Nintendo released the long-running kart racing series Mario Kart 8 on May 29th, 2014 for the Wii U and it quickly became one of the fastest-selling Wii U games to date. In fact, it sold over 8 million copies, leading to its place as the best-selling Wii U game.

Debuting on the Nintendo Switch in 2017, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is an enhanced version for the Switch which eventually became the console's best-selling game with nearly 30 million copies sold.

5 Terraria

Re-Logic released Terraria on May 16th, 2011 on PC and since has been ported to the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, PS Vita, and most mobile devices. Selling 200,000 copies within its first week of its release, the 2D sandbox game has gone on to sell over 30 million copies by 2020.

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Earning a spot on the top 20 list of best-selling video games of all-time, Terraria has sold more copies than The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons.     

4 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Following a handful of delays, the 2015 Game of the Year released on May 19th, 2015 for PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 with a release on the Nintendo Switch coming in 2019. CD Projekt Red's RPG surrounding a silver-haired monster-slaying Witcher, his horse, and a massive collection of Gwent cards had over 1.5 million pre-orders set prior to its launch and has since gone on to sell over 28 million copies thanks to its DLC and the Netflix series which premiered in 2019.

3 PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds

The title that led to the success of Fortnite, Call of Duty: Warzone, Fall Guys, and countless other games to mirror the battle royale blueprint, PUBG Corporation released PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds on December 20th, 2017 through Steam before coming to the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Stadia, and mobile devices. Since its launch, PUBG has gone on to sell over 70 million copies which are more than Diablo III, Duck Hunt, and FIFA 18.

Battlegrounds made over $10 million in its first three days during its Windows early access in early 2017 and earning over $4 billion as of 2020. With over 300 million downloads worldwide, Battlegrounds sits in the top 5 best-selling video games of all-time underneath Wii Sports, Tetris, and these next two titles have earned more.

2 Grand Theft Auto V

Rockstar Games released the fifth installment to their highly successful series that debuted in 1997, Grand Theft Auto V which launched on PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 on September 17th, 2013 Since its launch it has accumulated over six billion dollars worldwide with over 135,000,000 copies sold.

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Within the first 24 hours of its release, the best-selling digital release on the PS3 collected over $800 million in revenue and nearly one billion within the first three days. The highly anticipated sequel in the series, GTA V is the second best-selling video game of all time second only to the highest-grossing video game of all-time - Minecraft.

1 Minecraft

Mojang released this blocky, randomly-generated sandbox title in 2011 originally for PC and virtually anywhere you can pick up a controller. Since then, Minecraft has grown to home over 100 million active users building across the world and has accumulated countless awards throughout the past ten years.

With over 200 million copies sold since launching on November 18th, 2011, Minecraft has since become the highest-selling video game of all time beating out Grand Theft Auto V, Tetris, Wii Sports, Pac-Man

NEXT: GTA, Call of Duty Dominate Top Selling Games of the Decade List

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